Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan

The book describes the political, geographical, and ecological contexts within which migrations to and from Pakistan have taken place. These include migrations from India because of the establishment of the canal colonies, partition and the Kashmir wars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and from Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the 1970s and 1980s. The scale of rural-urban migration and emigration has als0 been dealt with along with its history, causes, repercussions (social, physical, economic and demographic both in the rural areas and in the small towns), and processes (both legal and illegal) and the actors at play such as emigrant organizations, state and private agencies and illegal operators. The book also deals with the effect of remittances on Pakistan’s macro economy and the response of the state to the emigration phenomena. It studies the evolution of small towns in general and of Mithi, Uch, and Chiniot in particular. The relationship between political power, land ownership, urban form and development of these three towns has been researched and analyzed. The text is supported by a number of boxes, statistical tables, maps, and interviews.

This book will be reprinted in February 2013. Find it on Amazon.